He married his wife Peggy Shippen on April 8, 1779
It is a fact that he married his wife Peggy Shippen on April 8, 1779. In the late summer of 1778, Shippen met Arnold, the Continental military commander of Philadelphia, and he began wooing her despite their differences. Arnold soon after sent her father a letter asking for her hand in marriage, but Shippen was wary of Arnold owing to Arnold's legal issues. The Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania initiated eight official charges against Arnold in 1779 for corruption and wrongdoing with federal and state funds, and he was subsequently convicted on two comparatively minor counts. Despite this, Edward Shippen eventually granted Arnold and Peggy permission to marry on April 8, 1779.
Margaret Shippen was born in Philadelphia on July 11, 1760, the fourth and youngest daughter of Edward Shippen IV and Margaret Francis. She was born into a distinguished Philadelphia family that included two mayors of Philadelphia and the founder of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. She was a young woman who enjoyed music, embroidery, and drawing, as well as political studies. She looked up to her father and learned about politics, finance, and the events that led to the American Revolution from him. She met Arnold while he was the city's military commander following the British evacuation in 1778. On April 8, 1779, they married in the Shippen townhouse on Fourth Street, and Arnold soon began plotting with the British to switch sides.
